Lyondell Chemical Co. representatives Mike Wobser, Randy Tatum and Nicole Lewis presented a $65,000 check to Lamar University’s Department of Chemical Engineering Oct. 11.
“We provide students with knowledge in the classroom,” said Peyton Richmond, associate professor of chemical engineering. “Lyondell’s donation will help students assimilate that knowledge by providing example problems in an industrial context.”
The money will be used to establish an Advanced Process Control lab.
Richmond will serve as the project lead, and will be assisted by professors Daniel Chen and Kuyen Li, associate professor John Gossage and assistant professor Qiang Xu, all of the chemical engineering department.
The lab will include 10 student control stations connected to a core system from Honeywell International. Students using the system will feel as if they are in an actual plant control room and will be exposed to the types of problems that arise on the job, Richmond said.
The project will cost an estimated $190,000 for the first three years of operation. In addition to Lyondell’s support, the College of Engineering is funding $76,000 of the project. The remaining funds will be requested from the university’s higher education assistance fund, as well as other sources.
Lyondell Chemical Co. is one of the world’s largest chemical and plastics manufacturers, a refiner of heavy, high-sulfur crude oil and a producer of fuel products. The company operates on four continents and has sales representatives throughout the world.
Headquartered in Houston, Lyondell is the third largest independent, publicly traded chemical company in North America and has $16 billion in assets. Equistar Chemicals LP, Houston Refining LP and Millenium Chemicals Inc. are subsidiaries of Lyondell Chemical Co.
